FC Barcelona Thread

Hey culers, what do you think about the subject of the referees? Apparently the payments were only for analytical references of the matches but it seems that the information, which was known before, was addressed just in these days, when the best atmosphere of the season is lived. In any case, I think that like the entire Bartomeu era, we pay a lot for nothing because referee rulings have hurt us in the League, Champions League and Cup.
 
Hey culers, what do you think about the subject of the referees? Apparently the payments were only for analytical references of the matches but it seems that the information, which was known before, was addressed just in these days, when the best atmosphere of the season is lived. In any case, I think that like the entire Bartomeu era, we pay a lot for nothing because referee rulings have hurt us in the League, Champions League and Cup.
The thing is Tebas said they can't do anything because of something happened 5-6 years ago (said something like that), and we didn't really pay for a direct help from referee, only paid to see how each referee officiates so that we can keep a check on our players discipline on field as you said an analysis, and in the end it didn't help, remember the Messi goal that went past the line in 2017 and the referee said no goal? (2017 is when these payments are dated or around it)
 
After Platini stepped down, there is no UEFAlona anymore......that is why they have been struggling.
i don t think you are funny neither you are talking as if you think you are legit, oh by the way, lol, where s chelsea now,.... never to be seen lol, it s been a long time tbh lol
 
Hey culers, what do you think about the subject of the referees? Apparently the payments were only for analytical references of the matches but it seems that the information, which was known before, was addressed just in these days, when the best atmosphere of the season is lived. In any case, I think that like the entire Bartomeu era, we pay a lot for nothing because referee rulings have hurt us in the League, Champions League and Cup.
real madrid vs almeria ring a bell???? that s the state of officiating favored to you know who...:D
 
What's the sentiment regarding the Quarter Finals? Do we make it to the Semis? And if we do, what's our odds at beating Atletico / Dortmund? (Well Atletico is a bit straightforward... recently)

I fully expect us to lose on Wednesday. However, I am fairly sure we will win or draw at the very least at "Home". It all depends, we need De Jong back for either leg very badly. The team looks like its running around doing a lot, but we don't have control in midfield. 32 year old Gundogan may be one of the top Free Signings ever if he manages to take us to Semis with our current situation.
 
Hey culers, what do you think about the subject of the referees? Apparently the payments were only for analytical references of the matches but it seems that the information, which was known before, was addressed just in these days, when the best atmosphere of the season is lived. In any case, I think that like the entire Bartomeu era, we pay a lot for nothing because referee rulings have hurt us in the League, Champions League and Cup.
Replying to this as a culer, about a bit more than a year later since I feel it is still a relevant thing.

If you ask me if there was any pressure over referees, I will undoubtly say that yeah, there was, but that is way less pressure than what the RM has always had on referees. I will explain myself. Probably, what happened, is that those payments were strictly for the analytical job over referees that every club has, and Negreira actually had that business even before it was positioned as the referee comitee vicepresident. HOWEVER, it would be very naive from anyone to think that from Barcelona directives, they never thought about, at least, exploiting the position of Negreira, at least to not be whistled against, specially when traditionally, in Spain, several referees were biased towards Real Madrid or even Atlético, but many times harmed Barcelona results.

This is a fact, every big team exerts, directly or indirectly, through money or influences, pressure over the referees. This is a fact. The higher team you are, even only because of being the favorite, you already have certain referee bias in your favour, specially because FOOTBALL IS A BUSINESS, and you always want the big horse to win, since it is the only one that can keep the winning strike long enough as to be a sustained and profitable business. It is what happens in capitalism, instead of having a fair competition, the tendence is to have the bigger fish eating the smaller one by any means possible, and not only by the rules. There's no morals in this society we live, and instead of having sports being an example of how we should behave, it is actually the opposite, sportsmanship becomes a reflection of what our society is, specially when there's so much money that rich people can loose. Rich people have no morals, and they will do whatever it is needed to keep their money and priviledges, included, ofc., cheating and buying referees, or exerting pressure over them.

Obviously, there's several grades into this, and it's heavily tied to the morals and culture of each part of the world, but precisely in Spain, that is probably one of the most corrupt countries in terms of politics and economies morals, what Barça did, being such a big club, that needs to keep winning, is the less you can expect from them.Ttrying to exert pressure over the referees colective to assure, at least, neutrality (which is obviously something very subjective) and not having the referee against them, is the bare minimum that a big club is actually expected to do to keep winning, or at least not having a big difficulty against in doing so. However, that's still exerting pressure over the colective, and even if your only intentions was not to being harmed and keep neutrality (that against, this is subjective, and an actual neutral referee could be sometimes perceived as being against the team) it is still exerting pressure and therefore, a delictive behaviour.

Now, a different thing is that the payment were effectively done only for that reason and not actually cause Negreira had an actual business that actually did a service, to Barcelona and possibly and probably, to other clubs (that obviously won't be accused as Barcelona, btw) and how much you can tie payments to the pressure exerted.

IMHO, Barcelona shouldn't be punished, but Negreira should. And not for having the company, since it existed before taking the charge in the referee comitee, but for not being more clear with services, and ties between it's company and the charge.

It is the obscurity and the difficulty to split his charge and his company what it is a problem here. This wouldn't have happened if the situation had been more transparent from the beginning, and in any case, I do think that there's certain intention by Real Madrid for making Barcelona struggle (something unexplainable since they need Barcelona like breathing air, due to the La Liga bipolar nature), but I feel there's a lot of fear from Real Madrid to have, for third time in the story, a Barcelona that is stronger than them, and that manages to win a lot of titles, and even more, I do think that their biggest fear is that Barcelona actually learn from their mistakes and manage to keep a constant flux of new players that take naturally the relevation in future years for those going away, and keep a constant level of play.
 
it will be a hard game for barcelona, if we play well defensively we re in for a good chance of a positive result or a draw, i m skeptical about the midfield how it will be or play, as lewandovski has a knack on scoring at these stages, we all depend on him upfront, let s not forget that 17 year old prodigy hopefully he plays very well
 
If you ask me if there was any pressure over referees, I will undoubtly say that yeah, there was, but that is way less pressure than what the RM has always had on referees. I will explain myself. Probably, what happened, is that those payments were strictly for the analytical job over referees that every club has, and Negreira actually had that business even before it was positioned as the referee comitee vicepresident. HOWEVER, it would be very naive from anyone to think that from Barcelona directives, they never thought about, at least, exploiting the position of Negreira, at least to not be whistled against, specially when traditionally, in Spain, several referees were biased towards Real Madrid or even Atlético, but many times harmed Barcelona results.
Truth is, If the Board were paying for referees "favour", then we should end up suing Negreira for the amount of goals that crossed the line and weren't ruled as Goals Pre 2020? Because if anything. then they got scammed?

And yes, Madrid being the Capital, and Florentino being as big as he is, will always have much more favour in the news and Politics in Spain - so no surprise on the narrative against Barcelona - whereas any similar incident for Madrid would be likely be swept under the rug

I haven't come across any real proof for referees helping us at all from these payments, if anything I could make a thread on how many times the referees could be accused of working against Barcelona in that time period instead.
 
it will be a hard game for barcelona, if we play well defensively we re in for a good chance of a positive result or a draw, i m skeptical about the midfield how it will be or play, as lewandovski has a knack on scoring at these stages, we all depend on him upfront, let s not forget that 17 year old prodigy hopefully he plays very well
We are likely to have more control. But we'd need to be cautious, if we press wrong and give space, dembele's in behind and a pass to Mbappe or 2 away from making it 2-0 against us very quickly. Kounde and Araujo need to be wary. 2nd leg we need either of Frenkie or Pedri to be back, because this current midfield is not a midfield apart from Gundogan and Roberto.

In attack our biggest hopes are Lewandowski, and the Yamal too - lets hope Ferran / Raphinha are able to provide too
 
Truth is, If the Board were paying for referees "favour", then we should end up suing Negreira for the amount of goals that crossed the line and weren't ruled as Goals Pre 2020? Because if anything. then they got scammed?

And yes, Madrid being the Capital, and Florentino being as big as he is, will always have much more favour in the news and Politics in Spain - so no surprise on the narrative against Barcelona - whereas any similar incident for Madrid would be likely be swept under the rug

I haven't come across any real proof for referees helping us at all from these payments, if anything I could make a thread on how many times the referees could be accused of working against Barcelona in that time period instead.
Thing is, I am not biased by my team alleigances. I can see how Barcelona actually has had some influence over the refereeing, as any big team would, and will keep on doing, specially in Spain, but thing is this is much more a thing of the sport and the country itself, rather than one team only. I feel is hypocrate to accuse Barcelona of that, when they need to do it to keep themselves competitive, cause everyone does, and is actually a way of trying to keep the refereeing more fair (I insist, even if fair is something subjective). But Barcelona wasn't the first in doing this practices, and I bet they would not do that if the referees weren't working against them on the first place. So yeah, for me is highly hipocrate.
it will be a hard game for barcelona, if we play well defensively we re in for a good chance of a positive result or a draw, i m skeptical about the midfield how it will be or play, as lewandovski has a knack on scoring at these stages, we all depend on him upfront, let s not forget that 17 year old prodigy hopefully he plays very well
Nah, is not a game to play defensively. But absolutely, not either to play high pressure, but more likely middle block pressure. So, still not letting them have the ball, at least in danger zones, but not being over ambitious. Barcelona has had a lot of problems if they stay either too low or too high on the pressure, specially when they start having players with yellow cards that can't foul the counterattack. They have to sit around the midfield and fight for control. Fight for posession, but without leaving gaps on the back that can be exploited by quick players, deny passing lanes, specially deep through passes lanes that can take the defenses out of position, and play intelligent.

Also, not rushing with the ball. Ultimately, we want to win, but a draw is not either a bad result, at least, not as bad as to not attack cautiously. Sure, we have to try to win, but in order to win, we have to attack patiently, and in order to attack patiently, we have to be ahead in the score, or at least draw, and having the posession, and not having our defensive lane too much ahead.

So summing up, if you ask me, we can start with a high pressure as long as we keep passing lanes closed and we can stop their counters. When players start to have yellow cards from stopping counters or start being tired, we should progresively fall back into the midfield, and play mid block pressure. If we manage to score a goal in between, we will have the advantage, and force them to push hard, and there, we will be able to send long balls into space for our fastest player and try to get some good fast plays that end up with a 2-0. If we ever get to the 2-0, then we will have the control of the match, and either they push harder and open for a third one, or they stop fighting for posession for avoiding a third goal, in which case, we can simply have the ball and play calmly. But the most important thing is not getting score first, cause that will make us go anxious and open more than we should. We can play high pressure for 15-20 or 25 min at the beginning of the game, but if we don't get there what we want, then it is better to fall back a bit and play a bit deeper, around the midfield. Then maybe in the beginning of the second half, recover a bit the high pressure while we are still fresh, in case we are still draw, but either if we manage to score or not, about minute 55-60, fall back into mid block and fight the match from there, still pressing enough as to not have them comfortable and confident, but not so much as to open ourselves in the back. If we do that, I think it will be a game for Barcelona, or at least, a draw, worst of cases.
 
So, we won 2-3 with a great teamplay and a great comeback from a 2-1. All the team worked together, Pedri made an amazing assist and Gundogan another one, and Raphinha and Christensen didn't fail. Apparently, we were vastly superior to PSG, with the exception of the first minutes of the second half, were the team seemed to go back in the terrain aslept.

Knowing all this, what are your thoughts for the return match? How do you think it will end? Do you see possibilities? And about La Liga? How do you feel this is going to end?

I give my opinion. If we manage to win the next three matches (this is vs Cadiz, returning game and Clásico in the Bernabeu), we will be probably unstoppable for the rest of the season. The most critical of them is tomorrow match, since we could be so euforic and so confident for winning this wednesday, that we could loose some focus this saturday. Xavi already said this match vs Cadiz might seem minor but might be really critical. A loose tomorrow could be a dent in our confidence in the worst moment possible, so it's IMPERATIVE to win this match. If we win this match and manage at least to pass the Champions League round, we will be confidence boosted vs Real Madrid in El Clásico, and I think we can make a very, very good match there, specially if Real Madrid looses vs Manchester. We will also have one day more of rest, so I see many possibilities to win next week's sunday, and get one step closer to La Liga. But all starts tomorrow. What do you guys think?
 
I wish we got lewandowski earlier in his 20s, the guy is made to play for barca, he turns 36 very soon, such a shame,he didn t score on tuesday but mostly because of sloppiness of raphinha is two balls into the area, but the guy was behind first goal
 
So, we won 2-3 with a great teamplay and a great comeback from a 2-1. All the team worked together, Pedri made an amazing assist and Gundogan another one, and Raphinha and Christensen didn't fail. Apparently, we were vastly superior to PSG, with the exception of the first minutes of the second half, were the team seemed to go back in the terrain aslept.

Knowing all this, what are your thoughts for the return match? How do you think it will end? Do you see possibilities? And about La Liga? How do you feel this is going to end?

I give my opinion. If we manage to win the next three matches (this is vs Cadiz, returning game and Clásico in the Bernabeu), we will be probably unstoppable for the rest of the season. The most critical of them is tomorrow match, since we could be so euforic and so confident for winning this wednesday, that we could loose some focus this saturday. Xavi already said this match vs Cadiz might seem minor but might be really critical. A loose tomorrow could be a dent in our confidence in the worst moment possible, so it's IMPERATIVE to win this match. If we win this match and manage at least to pass the Champions League round, we will be confidence boosted vs Real Madrid in El Clásico, and I think we can make a very, very good match there, specially if Real Madrid looses vs Manchester. We will also have one day more of rest, so I see many possibilities to win next week's sunday, and get one step closer to La Liga. But all starts tomorrow. What do you guys think?
Christensen is a big loss, so I am worried for the midfield. Sure we have Frenkie, Pedri and Gundogan who are our best 3 - other than Gavi - but problem is neither are DMs. Christensen was doing fine at our DM spot despite not even being a DM himself but he was very important, so him being suspended is a big loss. Another problem is even Roberto is suspended, so we don't have options to substitute anyone in the midfield either, other than Fermin.

The tie is far from over, and We really should have made it 4-2 in either the first or second half as we had enough opportunities to easily score 4 goals or 5 even had we taken every single chance we got in front of goal. Home support helps, but its no Camp Nou, and PSG are still good

I think even if we win to Real Madrid, we're 5 points behind them, and even then we need them to lose 2 games, i think the League is out of hand almost. But still, I agree, if we win our next 3 games as you said, we'll almost be unstoppable with our momentum. Speaking of unstoppable, Are you taking a look at Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen? They are slightly going under the radar by many, he's almost making a new dynasty in Germany. They have 6 games left of the season at max. and are undefeated thus far. They could get the treble - yeah its not Champions League but its still massive.
 
I wish we got lewandowski earlier in his 20s, the guy is made to play for barca, he turns 36 very soon, such a shame,he didn t score on tuesday but mostly because of sloppiness of raphinha is two balls into the area, but the guy was behind first goal
Are you talking about when Raphinha was standing alone at the edge of the box and there was no one else making a run for like 5 seconds? He crossed to Yamal, who really should have passed to Lewandowski at that time except he went for the Wonder shot instead, but he's even younger than I am, and playing in a CL Quarterfinal. So... he's much better and he will get better
 
Christensen is a big loss, so I am worried for the midfield. Sure we have Frenkie, Pedri and Gundogan who are our best 3 - other than Gavi - but problem is neither are DMs. Christensen was doing fine at our DM spot despite not even being a DM himself but he was very important, so him being suspended is a big loss. Another problem is even Roberto is suspended, so we don't have options to substitute anyone in the midfield either, other than Fermin.

The tie is far from over, and We really should have made it 4-2 in either the first or second half as we had enough opportunities to easily score 4 goals or 5 even had we taken every single chance we got in front of goal. Home support helps, but its no Camp Nou, and PSG are still good

I think even if we win to Real Madrid, we're 5 points behind them, and even then we need them to lose 2 games, i think the League is out of hand almost. But still, I agree, if we win our next 3 games as you said, we'll almost be unstoppable with our momentum. Speaking of unstoppable, Are you taking a look at Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen? They are slightly going under the radar by many, he's almost making a new dynasty in Germany. They have 6 games left of the season at max. and are undefeated thus far. They could get the treble - yeah its not Champions League but its still massive.
The DM thing is quite a problem, but we still have a chance to mantain our good shape. We still have Casadó, and even when Xavi hasn't tried him in that position, I feel that Cubarsí could make a great job in the DM position. So IMO, there are still options for the position, and if Xavi plays good his cards, we should pass the eliminatory with at least a tie. But indeed, PSG is still far from done, and they are very dangerous, so we really need to make a good match this tuesday and not get overconfident.

About Leverkusen I feel that they are pretty much on radar and is the revelation team of the season and everyone knows about it. All credit to Xabi Alonso, that has managed to explain the players the kind of play he wants the team to develop, and have done it very solid. But is not only him, great part of the success of the team is based on Florian Wirtz performance, that has been over the top this season, completely flawless. Such a great player.
Are you talking about when Raphinha was standing alone at the edge of the box and there was no one else making a run for like 5 seconds? He crossed to Yamal, who really should have passed to Lewandowski at that time except he went for the Wonder shot instead, but he's even younger than I am, and playing in a CL Quarterfinal. So... he's much better and he will get better
I feel that Xavi himself encouraged the players to be creative and aggressive, and when the coach says so, is very difficult to think outside the box and be able to see certain games, you simply try to push harder, and even more being that young. Having the calm to stop the game and look for the space, for the defence error, when you're so young, is something that can be done by few players, like Pedri, or Cubarsi from a deeper position. Speaking about him, I feel he's probably one of the main reasons for Barcelona being so solid in the defensive aspect, along with the rest of players recovering their greater version after Xavi retirement announcement, that took a lot of pressure from them on one hand, but put it on the other, in the sense that there's no excuses anymore. With or without him, players are not going to be so protected by their next coach, they know it, and started working trying to make Xavi change his mind at the end of the season. If Barcelona manages to win both titles there's a good chance that Xavi decides to stay, but even though, is not something sure as there are a lot of pressure from inside the club against him (Deco and some other people wanting to change the Cruyffism model by some mixed model between the German one mixed with some Brasilian-like individualities from certain players in the pitch to avoid being excesively rigid) so I am not sure if even winning both titles is going to make Xavi change opinion, due to all this pressure. Time will tell.
 
So.... What do we Say?

The Red Card was not Deserved, to me its a Yellow for both Araujo and Barcola. Obvious as day, that Challenge at THAT part of the pitch ALONE is a foul sure, and a Yellow too. Its not like the tackle by Valverde on Alvaro Morata in 2019 remember that? where he was all alone and he had a horrendous tackle. It was a Soft Contact...

And Barcola.. Look at the replay. He.. flopped to the ground, dived if you will - he took the chance, but a Proper referee would have seen both and given Yellow to both.

From there, it was clear to me, 10 Men without Araujo, and PSG being all over us apart from the Goal we scored, that they were going to be all over us.

And they were.

Gundogan was a Penalty if you give the free kick to PSG because they were virtually the same case, very soft contacts but players go down. But the Referee did not even bother with a Yellow let alone give the Penalty.

In my opinion, Referee was obliviously biased towards PSG, he gave a Red to anyone in the Barca Camp, not trying to hide Bias at all. But We didn't make it better for ourselves either.
 
Tottally agree with u but I don't understand what Xavi did with red card he received & his response so ridiculous. PSG didn't make any chance before red card of Araujo and conceded 1 goal, when your team had advantage with 2 goals up so unnecessary with this "foul". Ter Stegen's last man in this situation so he could or couldn't save it (MATS always better when facing "1vs1" in penalty area) thus the chance of goal for PSG is 50-50. Sometimes defenders need trust GK and avoid stupid foul when needless. So sad for Araujo, this guy is 25 years old but sometimes had stupid decicion not only this match last night, playing like "young player" and always remember one thing: Referee in CL also different when you play in La Liga.
 
Araujo made life difficult with the expulsion, he should have just kept running with barcola and what if he scores, it s ok, 1-1 still ahead in the tie, no harm done, but araujo s decision making in decisive moments is a real question mark, he s 25 years old, and to say he has no experience would be pushing it, and CL depends on small details.always, so there u go, another disapointment....nothing else to say tbh
 
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Tottally agree with u but I don't understand what Xavi did with red card he received & his response so ridiculous. PSG didn't make any chance before red card of Araujo and conceded 1 goal, when your team had advantage with 2 goals up so unnecessary with this "foul". Ter Stegen's last man in this situation so he could or couldn't save it (MATS always better when facing "1vs1" in penalty area) thus the chance of goal for PSG is 50-50. Sometimes defenders need trust GK and avoid stupid foul when needless. So sad for Araujo, this guy is 25 years old but sometimes had stupid decicion not only this match last night, playing like "young player" and always remember one thing: Referee in CL also different when you play in La Liga.
Yeah Xavi's anger problems on the sidelines are really crazy, but at this point his Red Cards happen once every 3 games ... and the referees (in La Liga at least) are bad so his way will never go right with them

Also Enrique said PSG would have won without the red card - even though he himself said that he didn't see how Araujo got a Red Card. And he knows that 11v11, in Paris, and in the first 30 mins, PSG lost 3-2, and were losing again 1-0. We were right there for the Semis. But as Gundogan and everyone else has said , UCL is about moments, and that from Araujo is debatable Red Card, today's game, referee decided to give decisions in PSG's favour and we decided to welcome those decisions with the way we played.

And yes he should have trusted Ter Stegen 1 on 1, and as @Hatrickhero said, even if its 1-1, we still lead 4-3, and are at home, and not even 2-1 down like in Paris. That blew the game away. But we will go again next season, at least we know now, that after 5 years, Barcelona is out to Compete again. We Knocked ourselves Out. Won Away, Got the first goal even to give more of a cushion. And Then gifted the game to them.

Manager thing is still up in the air....... I know Flick was amazing with you guys for that time, and we here know all too well what he can do. But you think he will fit a team like Barcelona with the clashing philosophies?
 
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